Versailies and Fontainbleau in one day?

Personally, I don't think it is reasonable to do Versailles in less than one day.

A much better combination would be Versailles and Chartres. You could eat a picnic lunch on the train during the one-hour ride between them and seeing the cathedral won't take as much time as seeing the chateau.

There is no way to see both Versailies and Fontainbleau properly in one day. This is a case of less is more. See Versailies AND the gardens (separate admission). Have lunch in town inbetween. All day outing with a delightful dinner in Paris that evening and a saunter along the Seine at night (see, so much more relaxing). Personally I'd add a day to Paris and delete one from Normandy (unless you are truly diehard WWII buffs - which my husband is). Or if you are driving delete one day from Normandy and add a day of driving a bit about the coast of Brittany. Mont St. Michel is worth looking at from a distance on your drive around Brittany but I wouldn't go to it itself on your timetable (better in the evenings and early morning before the crowds). Ah Paris in the Spring!

Thanks for the feedback. We like the idea of combining Versailies and Chartres Cathedral in one day. We were planning on visiting Chartres on the drive south to the Loire Valley from Caen. However, we always wanted to take the direct route without the detour to Chartres to the east. Does the same train RER C-yellow line, which goes to Versaillies-Rive Gauche go onto Chartres? If, not is there a connection at the Versaillies train station? We will plan on making this trip May 12 (Tuesday). Esther

Regional SNCF trains depart from the Versailles-Chantiers station for Chartres. See the timetables at www.bahn.de.